Loyalist mustering and march toward the coast
- When
- January 3 – February 20, 1776
- Where
- Cape Fear region, North Carolina
Governor Martin ordered his militia to muster after learning of Clinton's expedition; MacDonald's Loyalists crossed the Cape Fear at Cross Creek on February 20, 1776.
Word of a planned British Army expedition arrived in January 1776, prompting Martin to order his militia to muster in anticipation of its arrival. On January 3, 1776, he learned that more than 2,000 troops under General Henry Clinton were expected in mid-February. MacDonald, whose preferred road was blocked by Moore, chose an alternate route toward the Widow Moore's Creek Bridge, about 18 miles from Wilmington, crossing the Cape Fear River at Cross Creek on February 20 and destroying the boats to deny Moore their use.
Sources
- Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-20
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.